Anthonys Nose, New York A Review of Three Mineral Localities
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This web page is provided as a resource to mineral
collectors.
Contact the property owner before entering the property to obtain written
permission to collect minerals.John Betts does not own this property and he cannot
grant permission to enter the site.

At
right - Portal of the upper tunnel showing partial blockage, though access
is still open to adventurous collectors.

This is the oldest mining location in the Anthonys Nose region.
Surprisingly the mine tunnels are still open and accessible to this day.
Local residents have often visited the mines and many tell stories about
ascending the tunnel into a large "glory hole" at the bottom. The hole was
filled with water and there was a small boat that they used to paddle around
the pool. Presently there is little chance that collecting underground that
would be worth the risk. Collectors most likely will focus on the wide variety
of minerals found on the dumps.

Confusing References

There is a great amount of incorrect information from resources as trustworthy
as the USGS. If you ask local residents about the iron or pyrrhotite mine,
you will get either a puzzled look or they will tell you about the copper
mine. The USGS 7.5 topographic map of the West Point Quadrangle reinforces
this by prominently showing Copper Mine Brook running from the mine. To add
more confusion the Philips name was prominent among early mining companies.
As mentioned in the introduction, the Philips mine in the Philips vein, in
Philipstown, was widely exploited for iron ore. This is why much of the later
references distinguish the mine on Anthonys Nose as the Philips Pyrrhotite
Mine, though the proper name at the time was just the Philips Mine (Beck,
1894).

The location of the mine has caused confusion too. It is very close to the
border between Putnam and Westchester counties. This has complicated research
into the site because references must be checked under both county listings.
In fact when Zodac (1933) mapped the mine he showed that the southern half
of the mine, including the main shaft, was in Westchester County while the
northern half was in Putnam County. This is incorrect. Perhaps, a magnetic
anomaly made Zodacs survey inaccurate, but presently it is clear the
mine is located entirely within Putnam County. By superimposing aerial
photographs with topographic maps it apparent that the current boundary of
the two counties passes south of mines altogether. All mineral labels for
specimens should be corrected to reflect the location in Putnam County.
(Westchester County has just lost another mineral collecting site!)

History

The Philips Mine is on the northwestern flank of Mine Hill, northeast of
the summit of Anthonys Nose, was first operated for iron ore, though
the high pyrrhotite and pyrite content made it less desirable than the nearby
magnetite mines. It is unclear when the mine was first opened.

The earliest mention (Robinson, 1825) found to date of the minerals from
Anthonys Nose are likely references to the Philips Mine. Following
is the entry under the location Anthonys Nose:

"Phosphate of Lime, asparagus stone, in sulphuret of iron. Phosphate of
lime, under some varieties, is found in most of the mines of magnetic iron
in New York; it is often in yellowish white, or reddish grains
Hornblende, in large tabular masses, with pyrite and phosphate of lime.
Hepatic Sulphuret of Iron, in large quantities, mingled with Common Pyrites,
and phosphate of lime.
Red Hematite, a few m. S. from Ticonderoga; it occurs mammilary, botryoidal,
&c. (C.)
Sulphate of Barytes, Calcareous Spar, and Asbestus, are frequently found
in the vicinity"

At left - Apatite illustrated on page 242 of Becks
New York Mineralogy.

With exception of the reference to hematite from Ticonderoga it is apparent
that he is referring to the pyrite, pyrrhotite deposits at the Philips Mine.

Beck in the Mineralogy of New York (1842) was referred to the mine as "long
since ceased operation" so it is assumed that mining dated at least to the
early 1800s. Beck included an illustration of an apatite crystal and
writes:

"Apatite, in low six-sided prisms truncated on the terminal edges, has
been found at Anthonys Nose. These crystals are of a brownish or yellowish
green color, and vary from half a line to an inch in length. They are either
perfect or have their angles (edges) rounded and generally present two faces
broader than the other four. This locality is believed to be first noticed
by Dr. G. Troost"

The following year, Mathers Geology of New York, Part I (1843) there
are three references to iron workings on Anthonys Nose. On page 84
we find the first reference:

"In Putnam County, there is a locality of sulphate of alumina and iron,
and of sulphate of iron, in Phillipstown, on Anthony's Nose Mountain, about
three miles from West Point, at an old iron mine where the ore contains pyrites.
The earth from this place was used many years since by some of the inhabitants
for dyeing."

The next apparent reference the Philips Mine is on page 117:

"Many localities might he mentioned in Putnam County, where pyrites decomposes
with the formation of the sulphate of iron. The principal that have not been
mentioned are.1. An old iron mine on Anthony's Nose Mountain, about one and a half miles
east of Fort Montgomery.2. An old "silver mine" (but which contains no silver) on the top of the
same mountain, three miles east of Fort Montgomery."

Finally, on page 560, Mather mentions the poor quality of the ore which likely
came from the same source that Beck (1842) used:

"A bed (of magnetic oxide of iron) was opened many years ago on Anthony's
Nose Mountain, but it contained much pyrites and crystallized phosphate of
lime, both of which injure the ore for the manufacture of iron."

Zodac (1933) concludes that the three sites referred to by Mather are the
Philips Mine, though this author requires further documentation before being
convinced there are not other mines in the area.

The last historical reference to the Philips Mine was by Kemp (1894) who
states the mine was opened "just after the war". It is assumed that Kemp
was referring to the Civil War. Evidence indicates that Kemp was likely referring
to the first reopening of the Philips Mine for the exploration of copper.
On a map of 1872, the mine can be found under the name of the Hudson River
Copper Mines.

After copper mining was abandoned, the Philips mine was worked as a source
for sulfur for the production of sulfuric acid. The mine ore was carted to
a sulfuric acid plant on the Hudson River near the sight of the Highlands
train station. The ore was burned to create sulfur dioxide, the first step
in the production of sulfuric acid. The resulting cinders were hematite (ferric
oxide), and some attempts were made at using them in iron production (Newland
and Hartnagel, 1928). By 1894 the ore from the Philips mine was no longer
used in the production of acid because of cheaper Sicilian sulfur was available.
However, during mining the ore from the Philips mine was highly prized due
to the complete absence of arsenic (Kemp, 1894).

As will be seen in a later section, the mine was reopened a second time in
1907, also looking for economic quantities of copper.

Above - Map adapted from Klemic et al. (1959) of the uranium
exploration southwest of the Philips mine. Eleven drill holes sampled an
extension of the ore body and found uraninite associated with magnetite and
iron sulfides. The dumps and shafts of the Philips mine are in the upper
right corner.

During the post-World War II uranium rush, the area was prospected for uranium
minerals. In 1953, Edward J. Chalmers of Glenville, NY located uranium
occurrences on the dumps of the Philips pyrrhotite mine and in the area of
Camp Smith, the New York State Military Reservation, on Anthonys Nose.
Mr. Chalmers filed notices of his discovery, and in partnership with Mines,
Inc. of New York, developed an exploration plan that was accepted by the
Defense Minerals Exploration Administration in 1955. He was granted a contract
to drill eleven exploratory holes to define the economical potential of the
uranium ore. Based on his research the deposit was deemed submarginal given
the market at the time (Klemic et al., 1959). At this time, and during subsequent
studies by the U.S.G.S, the Philips mine was largely ignored and instead
focused an extension of the Philips ore body to the southeast into Camp Smith
where higher concentrations of uraninite were indicated.

Local Geology

The ore body, lenticular in shape is approximately 100 feet wide and over
300 feet deep, dips to the northwest at about 70 degrees and strikes northeast
following the direction of surrounding formations. The ore thickness varies
between 15 to 25 feet and thins out to the southwest. The northeast end of
the ore body has not been exposed. The ore is primarily pyrrhotite, slightly
nickeliferous, with smaller percentages of pyrite, magnetite and chalcopyrite.
In addition to iron, the ore has a 30 percent sulfur content, .5percent copper
content, and .3 percent nickel content (Kemp, 1894). The ore is associated
with feldspar, pyroxene, hornblende, quartz. All the ore minerals are
disseminated through the surrounding rock (Loveman, 1911).

The sequence of ore deposition was pyrite first, followed by magnetite, with
pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite last. The relative age of pyrrhotite to chalcopyrite
has not been determined. In thin sections can be seen reaction rims around
the magnetite of successive fringes of titanite and biotite. The presence
of titanite is indication that the magnetite is titanium-rich and is partly
ilmenite Loveman (1911) has proposed the following sequence for the local
geology and ore body:

The quartz diorite country rock was intruded by a monzonite. Followed by
dynamic disturbances which produced a gneissoid character to the intrusion
and country rock.

A second intrusion of a pyroxene diorite intruded at the contact between
the monzonite and the country rock. This intrusion was to become the wall
rock of the ore body.

This second intrusion, mentioned previously, was likely a line of weakness
and was subsequently highly fractured by local faulting producing a crush
zone that provided voids for the future ore deposition.

Hydrothermal water deposited pyrite in the crush zone and in part replaced
the silicates of the diorite.

Further shattering provided additional voids. Additional hydrothermal solutions
deposited the magnetite then the pyrrhotite. The chalcopyrite appears to
be simultaneous to the pyrrhotite deposition.

Mine Workings

There are two tunnels and one main shaft at the Philips Mine with several
smaller shafts or inclines that may have been used for venting or ore haulage.
The upper tunnel runs south-southeast 68 feet, is five by six feet in section,
and terminates 60 feet above the water level. The tunnel contains no timbering.
The portal to the upper tunnel is 56 feet below, and 70 north, of the main
shaft. The lower tunnel runs south-southeast 300 feet to the ore body. The
water level is presently up to the lower tunnel, making entry impossible.
The lower tunnel portal is 305 feet north-northwest, and 120 feet below,
the main shaft (Zodac, 1933).

Above left - Site map of the workings at the Philips Mine
and recent aerial map (above right) of the same area. Trail to the Philips
mine (red dotted line) is via the Appalachian Trail then a short bushwhack
to the southeast uphill through the woods. Collectors should avoid the private
property to the northeast of the mine.

Above - Section of mine showing ore body in relation to
surrounding formations and the two tunnels and main shaft (from Zodac,
1933).

At right - Portal of the lower tunnel. The water level of
the mine is currently to the level of this portal and iron precipitated from
the mine runoff can be seen in the foreground.

The main shaft is at 750 feet above sea level and is roughly 20 feet in diameter.
There is presently a chain link fence surrounding the main shaft to prevent
entry. The main shaft is inclined to the northeast, following the strike
of the ore body. About 24 feet below the shaft it opens into a large excavated
chamber. The central chamber was likely the merging of several levels of
mining to follow the ore. Zodac reports, that during his inspection during
1932, the size of the chamber visible above the water level was 150 feet
long by 20 feet wide and 85 feet high to the roof, with a smaller room off
to the side that is 30 feet long by 30 feet wide by 12 high (Zodac, 1933).

At left - William T. Howell in his hiking attire
ca.1900.

However the best description of the internal workings of the mine can found
in the journals of William T. Howell (1873-1916). Howell was a well known
hiker in the New York and New Jersey highlands, and even served as a guide
to the noted geologist Charles Berkey in his explorations of iron old mines
in the area. Howell visited the Philips Mine several times during 1906 and
1907 and his journal recorded the events of the trips. In 1982 his journals
were republished by Walking News, a New York based hikers organization, as
The Hudson Highlands containing volumes I and II of his original writings.
The following entry records his impressions of his first visit to the mine
in 1906:

"When we came upon the mines, far up the mountain sides, we were forced
to confess ourselves surprised beyond all ex-pectations. An enormous mass
of excavated material had been thrown out to form deposits comparable in
size to one of the culm heaps one finds in the Pennsylvania coal regions.
We found three shafts. The lower one, though entering on a level, had enough
water in it to prevent us from entering very far. A strong cold draught of
air, sufficient to blow out a lighted match, issued from the mouth of the
opening. Where did it come in? The second adit, also level, we followed for
some distance, but the lack of lights prevented extensive exploration.

Finally we came to the great opening at the very summit of the works,
far above the culm-like deposit of bright red rocks which we had encountered
lower down. We both exclaimed in astonishment as we came upon it in climbing
up the slope. It was a great cavern, dropping down to unknown depths. Many
feet down one could, by craning over the perilous edge, just see water. A
shaft deep down led off somewhere toward the west; another half way up went
southward toward the center of the mountain. We tossed a stone in. The effect
was weird; almost awesome. We heard it strike once; a moment's silence, and
it struck again; then followed a splash in a pool of water; once more a brief
silence, and then a ker-chug in deep water, and a boom and a multitude of
echoes came rushing up the hole to scare the wits out of one."

After Howells first visit to the mine it was reopened in search of
copper ore. Under the direction of John Woodcock, mine foreman, the mine
was dewatered and ore was blasted from one of the remaining pillars in the
mine. (Peekskill Union, January 28, 1907) When Howell returned to the mine
he reported the following:

"FEBRUARY 3, 1907.- A change has recently come over these mines. A ditch
may be seen leading out of the entrance there, and a quantity of lumber half
buried in the snow

"Since our last visit a canvas door has been added at the en-trance,
undoubtedly for the purpose of shutting off the great draught of air which
tends to pass through the shaft. Last summer when S. and I paid our visit
to this entrance, on a hot June day, a cold draught of remarkable force was
blowing outward from the hole. The atmosphere in the mine being so much lower
in temperature than the outside air was of course the reason for this. As
the cooler, heavier air of the mine flowed out of this shaft, its place was
taken by air sucked in at the large opening further up the mountain.

Today the rush of air at this entrance was inward. This merely proves
the correctness of the theory just advanced. The atmos-pheric conditions
are now the reverse of those which prevailed last June, the air in the mine
being warmer instead of cooler than the outside air. Hence it tends to ascend
through the upper opening, creating a strong suction inward at the lower
entrance. So great was this suction that when we entered the mine the pull
upon the canvas door was so great as almost to upset us, and we could scarcely
hold it back .

For several hundred feet we passed along a level straight shaft, so low
that we had to bend our heads. Roy wore a derby which he kept butting against
the rock ceiling until it was a total wreck, to my intense joy. He was leading
at this time, and talk-ing. Suddenly his voice apparently changed from a
normal tone to a roar, which was taken up by distant walls of rock and echoed
and re-echoed. He jumped back exclaiming that he had nearly walked off into
a black chasm.

What had really happened was that we had suddenly emerged from the shaft
into a large chamber; the supposed chasm was a pool of water, apparently
very deep. Later, with the aid of a torch, we found this pool to be about
seventy-five feet in diameter, and at the far end a half-submerged shaft
led to the north-east. The dome-like walls and ceiling above the pool had
re-markable acoustic properties, and were responsible for the echoes which
had startled Roy.

The pool was on our left; on our right was a striking vision. From some
unknown point far above, the daylight came down, showing cliffs and overhanging
shelves of rock all about the aperture there. At our feet stretched away
and disappeared around a turn a second pool of water so still and black that
for an instant it deceived us into believing we were standing on the edge
of a precipice looking down into great abysses

Coming into the shaft we had encountered a wheelbarrow and various tools,
including a pick, a spade, a pair of overalls, and several sledges, belonging
to the recent prospecting miners. They looked as though they had been there
since the days of Adam.

In the large chamber we found other tools, including a sharp axe, a broken
miners' lamp filled with kerosene, and-a package of dynamite! We left the
last named article undisturbed, reason-ing that it didn't belong to us and
we ought not to touch it!"

FEBRUARY 17, 1907.-Since our visit to the old copper mine two weeks ago,
the following item has been published in a Peeks-kill paper:

"The temporary work at the old copper mine, near Highland Station, has
been brought to an end pending the report made on the analysis of the ore
taken out.

"A force of men in charge of John W. Woolcock, entered an old tunnel after
lowering the water, and at a distance of three hundred feet in the mine,
blasted about ten tons of ore from one of the pillars.

"The ore was found to contain copper, nickel and sulphur, being very rich
in the latter, but as phosphorous is mixed with it, it is not known yet whether
it will pay to mine it. After the sulphur is burned out of the ore, the ashes
will be re-burned to see if the copper and nickel are there in paying
quantities.

"If the ore taken out is found to be rich enough to pay for the mining,
work will be started immediately, as the ore further down in the mine is
much richer, as the tunnel where Mr. Woolcock entered to get specimens for
the test was abandoned when the mine was being worked before to go lower
down to get at a much richer vein."

"An interesting change had come over the interior of the lower shaft where
we had gone in on the occasion of our last visit. The shaft was rapidly filling
up with ice, in the form of crystal stalac-tites and stalagmites, formed
by the slow dropping of water from the roof. I understand that the miners
recently at work here found this entrance quite blocked with ice, and had
to chop their way several hundred feet through the strange obstacle. Now,
with their departure the shaft is again filling up, and by next Sunday may
again be quite impassable.

About twenty feet within the entrance of this statuary hall, as we might
well term it, we placed the camera, and focusing it as well as we could in
the dim light there, opened the camera shutter and retreated into the outer
air, so as to allow as much light as possible to penetrate into the mine.
We walked about among the snow drifts outside, smoking and enjoying the scenery
from the mountainside, for eleven minutes, at the end of which time we returned
and closed the camera shutter. With this long exposure, which had been carefully
figured out from previous experiments in taking house interiors, we obtained
a remarkable picture. Features of the shaft were caught by the sensitive
plate which we had not been able to perceive with the eye."

At right - Photo of the upper tunnel to the Philips Mine
during February, 1907 with large ice stalactites that prevented the photographer
from entering the mine. (Howell, 1934)

"After progressing a comparatively short distance into this place, quite
in the dark,-a strong draught of air making it im-possible for us to keep
our candles lighted, we perceived a dim light ahead. It should be remarked
that this shaft was quite as notable for the snow drifts which lined its
course as the lower shaft was for the ice effect. The snow had been carried
in on the wings of the strong current of air which passed over our heads
in the direction we were going. With a rope around my waist, the other end
being held by Calkin and Peck, I now crawled forward on my belly through
the snow, and soon came to the abrupt end of the shaft, which opened out
on a great chamber, of unknown size to us then, and dark as night except
on the right, where a shaft of light bent around a shoulder of rock a long
distance above us.

Lying flat, with half my body extended out into space, I felt around and
discovered that the big chamber into which our tunnel opened extended not
only above but below our perch. I was looking over a cliff, and our pathway
ended in a hole in the wall of the large chamber somewhere between the chamber's
floor and roof. A lovely shaft to walk through in the dark, suddenly stepping
off into nowhere! We found it all most inter-esting, and speculated as to
where we were. Then we retraced our steps and went still further up the mountain
to the big hole which drops straight down at that point. Just above this
per-pendicular chasm we discovered for the first time a narrow hole penetrating
a great snowdrift, apparently, and came to the con-clusion that it led to
a chamber which branched southward from the side wall of the large
chasm

One of its windows was the long shaft by which we had en-tered.
Another was a circular opening directly in the middle of the roof, like a
skylight in a dome. A third was the big entrance hole of the great perpendicular
shaft of which this chamber was an offshoot to the south. From a small excavation
in the southern extremity of this chamber I took a photograph, looking out
into the great shaft, and showing in the foreground a drift of snow which
had sifted down from the skylight above "

At left - Large dumps north of the lower tunnel . Note that
little vegetation has grown on the dumps even though mining ceased over 90
years ago.

This first-hand account of exploring the mine during the dewatering provides
the most detail of any description found in geological literature. Though
Howell was not familiar with mining to provide an accurate interpretation
of the excavations that he witnessed, it does give a sense of the amount
of ore removed and the convoluted, complex underground workings.

Beside the underground working there are extensive dumps throughout the site
that are likely to be the most interest to todays mineral collectors.
Due to the concentrated iron and sulfur content of the mine dump, little
vegetation has grown on the dumps (evident in aerial photographs of the site
in fig. 16). Below the lower tunnel, to the north, there are several dumps
covering a wide area. The next largest dump is located downhill (north) of
the main shaft.

Also of interest to present-day collectors are the many prospect pits to
the south, southwest and west of the main shaft scattered in the woods. Both
Zodac (1933) and Klemic et al. (1959) report interesting mineralization.
See Figures 15 and 16 for locations of known prospect pits.

This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never
attempt to visit any mineral localities listed on this site without written
permission of the land owner and/or mineral rights owner and that you follow
all safety precautions necessary to protect yourself and the property.
Unfortunately, the status of mineral collecting sites change often. Inclusion
in this site does not give an individual the right to trespass. ALWAYS ASK
PERMISSION prior to entering a collecting location. ALWAYS RESPECT THE PROPERTY
OWNER, you are his guest. Never enter a property posted no trespassing. When
in doubt, do not enter the property.